It Had to Be Him Read Online Free Page A

can’t lose Hal—”
    “That’s enough, Casey. And dammit, Megan!” Numbskull whimpered at her father’s raised voice. The veins in Dad’s neck puffed and his face turned red as he growled, “You’re going to have to figure things out on your own for a change. This is what happens when you sleep around and get yourself knocked up!”
    And there it was. It didn’t matter that she’d once loved Joshand that Haley had shown her a whole new kind of love between a parent and child she didn’t even know existed.
    Numbskull sauntered over and laid his big head in her lap, letting out a long, been-there-done-that sigh. Sadly, her only ally in the room was a big goofy mutt.
    Appreciating the pooch’s loyalty, she rewarded him with a dual ear rub while her brain raced for a solution.
    Her sister was the only one remotely capable of changing Dad’s mind. “Come on, Casey. You know I can run the hotel as well as you can. You said so yourself when I took over while you were on your honeymoon.”
    Before Casey could answer, her father said, “No. Maybe the threat of losing the one thing you seem to care about is what it’s finally going to take to wake you up. This meeting is over!”
    “Not so fast, Mitchell.” Grandma raised a hand to silence any protest her son might make. “Megan, you think you can run a hotel as well as Casey? Then it’s time you prove it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You’ve owned your other grandparents’ house since you were eight years old. They left it to you when they died.”
    Dad growled through gritted teeth. “Mother, that’s enough!”
    Grandma ignored him. “Your father never told you because he thought it wasn’t fair they left it to you alone and not to all of you kids. The last renters just moved out, so it’s sitting there on the other side of the lake falling to pieces. Fix it up into a nice private getaway and show your father you’re better than he gives you credit for. Hurt him where it pains him most—in his damn wallet. Steal a few of those richer-than-sin clients away, then you’ll be able to keep Haley here where she belongs.
    “And you!” Grandma stood and pointed her cane at Dad. “That’s your innocent-in-all-of-this granddaughter you just put on the line. I’m ashamed of you, son!” She opened the door, ignoringMrs. Duncan, who had obviously had her ear plastered to the other side, and yelled, “Now this meeting is adjourned!”
    By the stunned looks of confusion on her older siblings’ faces, no one else knew about the house either. Dad’s menacing stare silenced the questions they clearly wanted to ask.
    She’d always presumed the house had been inherited by her mother, an only child. But because her mom had died when Megan was a baby, it had gone to her father. “I’d gladly share with you guys—”
    “Nope.” Ryan finally spoke. “If those were their wishes, then we need to honor them. None of us are going to complain, are we?” He slid a stern look Casey’s way and then to Ben. When they both shook their heads, Ryan nodded sharply. “Then we’re all in agreement. Go for it, Meg.”
    “Oh, that’s rich. How?” Her father leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his big barrel chest.
    When no one spoke, Dad said, “Megan obviously doesn’t have the resources, and I expect you all to keep our bargain. Don’t let me catch you loaning her money. She’ll never learn if we keep bailing her out. We all agreed on that.”
    Yeah, and at the end of the day, that’s what hurt the worst. None of them had any faith left in her. Well, dammit, she’d show all of them, and herself too, that she could run her new little lodge better than any of them, even if she didn’t have any money.
    But how?

M eg fumed as she replayed the family meeting in her mind. She was used to her dad stomping on her heart, but hadn’t seen that one coming from her sister and brothers.
    She dragged the compressor closer to Grandma’s fence, intending to